Have I Got A Bridge to Sell You!

It may not be as well known as its older sister, the Brooklyn Bridge, but the Manhattan Bridge also offers great city views and an interesting 15 minute walk-across. In fact, one could argue that the Manhattan Bridge can boast the superior view because it offers the walker a stunning view of the Brooklyn Bridge against downtown Manhattan.

Walking across this bridge last week the thing that I found the most exciting is the birds-eye views of Chinatown and the Lower East Side before the bridge even rises above the the East River. The Manhattan Bridge picks up relatively far inland - at Bowery and Canal in the heart of Chinatown. This makes for some great voyeuristic sightseeing as you get to peer into the windows, rooftops and colorful streets of Chinatown below.

Continuing on you are then treated to the aforementioned views of lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge as you stand above the East River. On the Brooklyn side you get the parallel pleasure of peering down over DUMBO. Note the difference in character of the neighborhoods on each side of the water.

The one downside that I must mention is the constant noise of car traffic and subway trains that share the bridge with pedestrians. Unlike the Brooklyn Bridge, where there is a bike and foot path above the cars, on the Manhattan Bridge the cars, subway and walkers traverse in relatively close quarters on the same level. So bring earplugs if you must, but don't miss this bridge less traveled.

The Highline

PHOTO BY Lindsay Kurz

Bursting on to the scene at the turn of the century (that's the recent turn of the century, folks) the Meatpacking District was just too cool. With trendy clothing boutiques and faux dive bars popping up next door to every meat packaging house left, the turn around was so quick one wondered whether the lingering smell of beef carcasses was supposed to be part of the ambiance.

The Meatpacking District today is still, of course, cool, but not like it was seven or eight years ago. The darling of the neighborhood, the Chelsea Market is still visited but it is not talked about as much as it once was. Evidence of this slowdown in hype is the simple fact that the meatpacking operations were not completely "gentrified-out," as you will notice if ever you visit the area in the early mornings and stumble across the refrigerated vans unloading their goods.

However, this summer the Meatpacking District is cool again. With the opening of the much-anticipated (semi-urban-legend) Highline last month, the buzz is again re-focused on this neighborhood. (On the opening weekend in June the queue to see the Highline stretched around the block).

In keeping with the neighborhood's self image, the Highline is an exhibit in sleek lines, steel and concrete and a capricious pattern of gardens. Not wanting to be mistaken as trying to hard, the garden colors are variations on lavender, sage and white, making the statement that its design does not need to rely on flashy, overly-saturated flowers for effect. The vegetation almost feels alpine, with aspen trees and grasses, - giving the effect of a Colorado ski resort in the springtime.

The Highline currently stretches from Gansevoort street to 20th Street (above 10th Ave.) Along the way the elevated path swerves left and right and even meanders through a newly constructed apartment building. With views of the Hudson River to the west and the neighborhood streets below, you'll have to admit that indeed, this is cool.

The Hidden Parks of Manhattan: Ford Foundation Building

Midtown is a busy place. So finding a refuge from the crowds, noise and traffic is a happy blessing. Though Midtown does not seem to have as many corner parks as say, the West Village, they do exist - they're just harder to find.

One green oasis in Midtown that I just discovered is the Ford Foundation Building, located between 1st and 2nd Avenues and 42nd and 43rd streets. It's actually a beautifully lush garden and pond enclosed within the indoor atrium of the building. The striking thing is that the building is so tall that the courtyard walls rise magnificently upward from the garden. The garden and pond receive its water supply from rooftop rainwater and collected steam from within the glassed-in atrium. Built in the sixties, the building is headquarters for the Ford Foundation, an organization that funds all sorts of charities and grants around the world.

So whether you're looking for a quiet place to relax or if you're simply passing by the area, stop and take a peek inside this unusual building.

Try Tai Chi. Why Not?

Today I tried the free Tai Chi class held at Bryant Park. Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, from 7:30-8:30am, (April - Oct) there is a free and open Tai Chi class given by the Tai Chi Chuan Center. Though early in the morning, it felt refreshing to be awake, stretching and moving in the cool morning air at the Park. At 7:30 the Park is still and fairly quiet, but by the end of the class the Park is flooded with the usual Midtown crowds rushing to work.

The class was fairly basic and is accessible to all skill levels and ages. There were about 25 students this morning. The founder of Tai Chi Chuan Center, Master C.K. Chu leads the class and 2-3 other assistant instructors move around the open air "classroom" correcting postures and positions.

The class is held, rain or shine, at the Fountain Terrace (at the west end of the park).

Celebrate the Swedish Midsummer Festival

Tonight from 5:00 - 9:00pm the Swedish Midsummer Festival takes place at Wagner Park (in Battery Park). Swedes celebrate the summer solstice by celebrating on the Friday closest to the actual solstice (which is June 21). This year's events include decorating the maypole, traditional folk dancing, making summer wreaths, a parade, traditional music and fiddling (by Daniel Dahlin and the American Swedish Institute), games, and Swedish food. The event is free and everyone is welcome to join.

Get Out. Find Others. Meet Up.

There are over 1.5 million people in Manhattan and almost 19 million people in the greater NY-NJ-CT metro area (that's almost two-thirds of Canada's entire population, folks!) With this many people, chances are there are others out there in the city who share your same interests, passions and hobbies . . . whatever they may be. It's just a matter of finding them. Enter Meetup.com.

Though not NYC specific (you can use Meetup in any U.S. city), Meetup.com is a great way to find people or groups that share your interests. And with so many New Yorkers, it is especially easy to locate groups or clubs dedicated to every odd hobby or field. From proffesional associations to music groups, sports clubs, discussion groups, foreign language groups, activist organizations, support groups, volunteers, collectors, enthusiasts, etc. chances are you will find a specific group through Meetup, find out how often and where they meet and join the group yourself. This is not simply an online meetup forum, it is area specific and the goal is to get people together, to meetup face to face.

For the past three years I have been a member of the NYC Web Design Meetup group and one of the Bellydance groups. The Web Design group meets usually once a month downtown and we spend a couple hours discussing new web innovations and design issues, as well as sharing our own work with others in the group. It is a chance to meet with others, ask questions and learn and contribute. The Bellydance group meets to dance, watch bellydance shows and listen to Middle Eastern music. Each meetup group is different and shaped by what the members want.

And if you can't find the type of group for your oddball interest - say a pigeon watching club - then you can start your own through Meetup and begin uniting all the other fellow urban bird watchers out there.

The Renegade Craft Fair

This is a blog devoted to the places and happenings of Manhattan. But just this once, I am stepping off the island to highlight an upcoming event in Brooklyn. This weekend, June 6th and 7th the annual Renegade Craft Fair is coming to McCarren Park, Brooklyn.

I attended this outdoor craft meet four years ago and I plan to go again this year. For anyone that gets excited about bookmaking or who regularly visits Flat Iron's Paper Presentation, this is the event for you! With over 300 crafters gathered to showcase and sell their wares, you'll see everything from sewn items, jewelry, papers, knitted wares, posters and prints, photography, soaps, silkscreens, zines, comics, clothing and handmade home decor. By the end of it, no doubt you'll be scratching your head and saying "Why didn't I think of that?" and be planning to open your own booth next year.

The event is free and open to the public. Take the L subway line to Bedford Ave. and walk north on Driggs Ave. until you reach the park.

Open your Mind, Not your Wallet

I wanted to announce another center in town that offers great free classes: The Open Center. I just attended their free introductory seminar of "Healing with Whole Foods and Chinese Herbs" last night. Though I might be a bit skeptical of some aspects, I enjoyed learning the basics of Chinese medicinal theory.

To sum up The Open Center, as described in their welcome statement, they are " dedicated to offering educational programs and cultural events that expand the mind, nurture the body and awaken the spirit. We offer workshops, classes, lectures, conferences and professional trainings, led by teachers of wisdom, passion and skill. Thousands have come through our doors finding fresh intellectual perspectives, paths of healing, deepening of their spiritual lives and new careers that allow them to be of service and express their true calling."

I myself admit that I am dubious of the more far-fetched practices involving "chakras," "life force" or most things with "spirituality" in the title. Still I enjoy learning about everything, and am open to trying new things. They offer a variety of multi-week long classes (that you pay for), but many of these classes start off with a free introductory seminar open to anyone. I should note that many of the multi-week long paid-for classes are in fact not that expensive themselves.

Topics range from Belly Dancing, Aromatherapy, Learning to play the Native American Flute, Prana Yoga Teacher Training, How to Communicate with Difficult People, Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy and hundreds more. From massage to spirituality to eastern medicine to psychology they cover a wide breadth of topics loosely under the holistic health and wellness category. They also have a shop that carries an eclectic selection of books, world music, cards and aromatherapy products.

The Open Center is located in Soho at 83 Spring Street (but next month they are moving uptown to 22 East 30th street). To attended a free introductory seminar pre-register by calling 212.219.2527 x 2.

Talking Dirty

PHOTO OF THE EARTH ROOM FROM NYC TACO. PHOTO OF RUBEN OCHOA EXHIBIT FROM PETER BLUM WEBSITE.

With "Art Museums" showcasing toilets as sculpture and elephant poop as art you'd think you could just throw some dirt in a room and call yourself an artist. Wait, (shocking) that has already been done here in NYC. Actually twice. In fact - even stranger - twice on Wooster street, to be exact.

Yesterday while strolling through west Soho, I visited two, totally separate, galleries that were each a large room full of dirt. The Earth Room at 141 Wooster street fills the entire second floor with about a yard deep of dark rich earth, or 280,000 pounds of it. The gallery has a wonderful mossy earthy smell, much like the smell of old houses in the East in the humid summer months. I have to say that it was an interesting and usual site - quite a weird juxtaposition of an urban Soho loft with the expanse of natural earth unnaturally filling the space. The dirt is very dark, soft and fertile looking. Apparently they mist the dirt and rake over it several times a week to keep it in shape. The Earth Room opened and has not been altered since 1977, and so I wondered, quite practically, if the floor of the loft has decomposed at all? I also wondered if gallery viewers are ever tempted to throw a handful of seeds across the art? One also inevitably thinks about what a large and beautiful Soho apartment this would be sans the dirt.

The second stop on Wooster street was the Peter Blum Gallery, just south of the Patagonia store. The one-room gallery simply holds one large slab of concrete leaning against the wall, with mounds of dry reddish looking dirt piled against the concrete. This dirt is entirely different, instead of looking rich and agricultural it had the feeling of dirt dug up at a construction site and left to bake dry in the sun. The interesting thing about this exhibit is its theatrics of presentation: You can walk under the exhibit to the back side to see how it is constructed. Like a theater set, the "concrete" slab is a hollow prop. The "mounds" of dirt aren't really mounds, but instead just a thin layer of dirt spread across a hollow hill of wire mesh and canvas.

Both are open to the public. The Earth Room, by Walter De Maria is open Wednesday - Saturday noon-3:00pm and 3:30-6:00pm. It is closed during the summer months. The Peter Blum Gallery is located at 99 Wooster St. and is open Tuesday - Friday 10:00-6:00 and Saturday 11:00-6:00. The exhibit of dirt in the Peter Blum gallery is by Ruben Ochoa and is showing until July 24, 2009.

Take a Bite Out of The Big Apple

At risk of sounding like an Apple computer evangelist, today I am posting about the great FREE classes offered at the Apple stores. With its latest addition of the West 14th street location (fittingly in the tragically hip Meatpacking District), Manhattan now holds a total of three Apple stores. Which means there is a free computer class going on just about every hour of the day. People, take advantage of free learning!

Obviously this post is somewhat limited to those of you with Macs (the rest of you. . . your next computer should be a Mac. . . again, not to proselytize or anything). But for those of you who do use Macs, or want to, the Apple classes are a great opportunity to learn everything about your computer and its programs. They are the missing classes you always wish you had when you wonder how other people seem to know all those little computer secrets.

The classes range from 'Getting Started on a Mac Computer' to Adobe CS4 classes such as using Illustrator and Photoshop. There are classes covering all the Apple programs - iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, etc. There are various classes covering the operating system (Mac OS X Leopard), teaching you all the new features, tips and tricks. They offer in depth two-hour classes covering programs like Final Cut Pro and digital photography using Aperture. They also have classes on iPhone, iPods, wireless networking and all the peripherals. Besides the extended in-depth sessions and the hands-on sessions most of the classes are an hour long.

The Soho store hold the classes in a comfortable upstairs auditorium (as compared to the Fifth Ave store, which just holds the classes in a more informal setting around a large table). I've always felt comfortable asking questions and the teachers are happy to show you everything. In addition to the classes, keep an eye out for special free events they hold - business networking events, music performances, lectures, etc.

So for whether you just want to get up and running on a new Mac computer or whether you want to learn something about a particular program, take a look at all that's offered and start learning.

Moi, a model?

Ladies, who would like to enjoy a free hair style, cut and color from a world renown salon? Ever heard of Bumble & Bumble Salon? That's right. . . . free! Just one of the many luxuries of living in New York City - Bumble & Bumble headquarters happens to be located right here in town and they are always looking for models! Not the skinny 5 ft. 8 models (though there happen to be a lot of those here in the city as well), but anyone with a full head of hair and time to relax at the salon.

Here's the deal: Bumble & Bumble runs a hair school, called B&B University, and just as they do for their regular customer salons, their University is top notch. They offer their students live models (not a plastic mannequin head) to practice on. So, I took the opportunity to sign myself up as model. All you have to do is sign up online and then show up for a scheduled "model audition" (which is just showing up with your hair brushed and they check to see if you have an appropriate length). Once you are an approved model, the fun starts. You can sign up for as many styling, cutting or coloring sessions as your schedule allows. Ever fantasized about being the practice-body for a massage school? Well, this is one of those instances.

Each session is about two hours, and each time I've left with an amazing new style. The students are always very nice, and usually are professional hair dressers themselves who are just attending to get B&B certification credit. They are from all over the world - the last session I attended the students were all from France. To encourage loyal models, each time you attend a session, B&B gives you a $10 credit toward any of the Bumble products (as if you needed this extra incentive?). And just as an extra bonus, the B&B Uni salon is on the 6th floor of a beautiful glass-and-steel Meatpacking district building, complete with skyline views of the city!

My only word of advice is that you should be sure to schedule a dinner date that eveing, as you'll be looking too fabulous to simply return home for the day. Go to the B&B University Model page to sign up and for all the details.

A Noble Pursuit

Every once and a while you discover something in the city that is both FREE and truly WORTHWHILE. This is one of those things: Nobledesktop. I've been telling all my designer/photographer friends about it, so naturally I decided I must mention it here.

Nobledesktop is a learning center offering an array of design-oriented multimedia classes and seminars. They have full pay-per multi-day classes, which I am absolutely sure are amazing, though I've only so far attended their free one-night seminars. Check them out at Nobledesktop.com. Their free seminars are always dead on, providing real-life tips and information on how to get started immediately on topics ranging from 'how to build an HTML email campaign' to 'the latest and hottest web technologies' to 'creating photo compositions/collages in Photoshop.' The lecturers who present the seminars are not only knowledgeable and engaging but also surprisingly entertaining. Frequent-seminar lecturer Dan Rodney, in particular, is always spot-on in managing to address a certain issue just before you raise your hand to ask that very question.

So if you are in the design/photography field (and have not already heard of them) definitely check them out and try one of their many free seminars. As for me, as soon as I can scrap together some extra cash I'm going to try one of their full courses, as I am sure it is worth every penny.

Nobledesktop is located right on Broadway in Soho, their address is: 594 Broadway, suite 1202.